lew Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Only 8 days till Lakair and I may be without my bowmount motor. I went out fishing yesterday and found both my deepcycles for the bowmount totally dead, something that's never happened before so I was totally lost as to why that would happen, as I keep them fully charged at all times. I use a MotorGuide E54 and on the side of the foot control there's a 3 position switch. The center position is for normal use, the rear position puts the motor on constant hi-speed and the front spot is to run the motor continuously without having to keep your foot on the control, which is nice is your moving along a weedline or something. When I was trying to figure out the problem I noticed the switch had been moved to the front position which keeps the motor running continuously, and then it came to me what I'd done. I always cover my boat at night when it's at the dock, and my cover goes over everything, including the troll motor, and it actually sits on the propeller. It looks like I covered the motor, then somehow kicked the switch into continuous run mode without realizing it while covering the rest of the boat, but the prop couldn't turn because it's locked under the cover and would be jammed in place. Both my batteries were fully charged the night before when this happened so it would take a long time for them to run down, yet all that time the motor was turned on and trying to spin the prop. I recharged the batteries last night for about 14 hours , then tried it this morning but there's a definate problem somewhere. It won't work at all in the normal position or the continuous run mode, but works fine in the hi-speed mode, so it looks like I haven't burned out the motor, but have probably done some serious damage to some of the electrics. What I don't understand though is why the circuit breaker didn't trip and shut the system down as I'm darned sure something musta been overheating Anyways, I brought it home with me and will call Aikmens in the morning. Hopefully he can fit me in this week and get it working again before I head back to the trailer on Friday, then onto Lakair early Tuesday morning. And here I thought I was in great shape for the summer.....last week I repacked the wheel bearings in the boat trailer, installed and painted new OEM fenders on the trailer, plus installed new lights all around it Dang........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Hopefully it has some type of breaker if something like that happens. I'd think that it would. Good luck with it Lew. Could be something very minor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 (edited) Tough one Lew.If Im not mistaken you have had them batteries for awhile now right? I find after using my motor for the day the low speeds will not work worth while you know,but on high no prob. Im thinking you burnt the batteries my friend. Open the lids and see if they are black. Not to rub it in to ya bud,I was always told to disconnect the plug for the troller when charging and when it,s idel.Just for that reason. Edited June 10, 2007 by misfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handlebarz Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Dang Lew that sucks hope ya get lucky with a easy fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowPoke Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Hi Lew, My trolling motor works but my main motor is still down. I took my boat into the shop and they diagnosed a bad "switchbox". I ordered it a few weeks ago and picked it up from the post office yesterday. Installed it in about 30 minutes and TADA!!! Nothing. Still no vroom. I'll bring the front half of my boat, you bring the rear half of your boat and Wayne can bring some rivits. Screw it, let's just fish from Wayne's boat... he has lots of room! -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted June 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Hi Lew,My trolling motor works but my main motor is still down. I took my boat into the shop and they diagnosed a bad "switchbox". I ordered it a few weeks ago and picked it up from the post office yesterday. Installed it in about 30 minutes and TADA!!! Nothing. Still no vroom. I'll bring the front half of my boat, you bring the rear half of your boat and Wayne can bring some rivits. Screw it, let's just fish from Wayne's boat... he has lots of room! -Brian I'm actually fishing with Wayne on the 19th at Lakair Brian, but if this thing doesn't get fixed in time, I may just hafta invite myself along with him for the whole week, but like you say, there'll be room for all of us Hope you get yer own problems fixed up soon too. Misfish, as for my batteries, their fine now since they were charged last night, it's just that my motor was left running over night without being able to turn the prop, so I have no idea what damage I've done. ........jeez, it'll be a shame if I hafta buy a whole new troll motor hmmmmm, isn't Fathers Day comin up soon ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 AAHHHHHHHHHHH so it,s a ploy eh. Yer secret is safe with me Lew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplumma Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Hey Lew it sounds like the speed controller overheated inside of the epoxy block were the electronics live. The reason the circuit breaker did not trip is it was not pulling over 50 amps . The speed controller when set on low cuts the amps to the motor and needed to do something with the excessive amperage so it turns it into heat....... Call the tech they can possible send you the speed controller if it is a seperate unit from the other part of the foot controller. I am not familiar with the Motor guide units but the Minn Kota was about $150.00 and was available seperate. Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted June 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Thanks Art, that all makes sense and sounds feasible, I'll check into it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike the Pike Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Lew that really sucks I hope you ger er fixed for Lakair. MTP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daplumma Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I melted my Minkota the same way.It wasn't the motor but the controls in th head unit.Take a peek in there and see whats doin'.May even get lucky and find just a burnt wire. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I did very much the same thing to my Minn Kota a couple years ago. Motor left on continuous run (at low speed) while in the stowed position (my prop rests against the bow). At first I just thought I killed the battery, but after a good charge, the motor would only run at full speed no matter what the setting. After a call to Rocky's, I figgered out that the speed coil (potted in the bell housing of the motor) was pooched. A new bell housing (with speed coil) and shaft were ordered and after a couple hours of sweat, my motor was as good as new. There was no doubt about the damage once I had it apart. The expensive lesson I learned was always unplug the motor from the battery when not in use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiel Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 ....ooooooh that sucks Lew. But I thank you for posting as it may well save me from doing the same thing. Hope all is fixed up for Lakair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GbayGiant Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I had problems last year that I couldn't figure out, it was just running really weird, all it was was a loose screw on the positive wire inside the housing, tightened the screw problem fixed. Second problem I had it was doing almost the same thing just acting real weird only responding when it felt like it, so Brian (backwater tackle) mailed me a new circuit board, I changed it in 20 min and presto no more problems so far. Could just be a small problem you would never think of, mine was still under warranty, so I'm not sure if they are worth repairing price wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted June 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Aikmans knew exactly what the trouble was right away and a fast estimate says it'll cost at least $350 - $400 + to get it going again, as it seems like I fried a bunch of stuff in there. Paying that kinda money isn't worthwhile to fix up a 6 year old motor that didn't cost too much more than that new, so I'm off to buy a new motor tomorrow morning........probably start at BPS I think Misfish's idea of un-plugging the motor at night is a goodun. Oh well, the old motor was gettin all dusty anyways, so it's time for an upgrade Gotta look spiffy for those Lakair toothies next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowPoke Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 You're lucky Lew... al least yours wasn't worth fixing! Unfortunately, my main motor went to the doctor today and within 2 hours they spotted the problem. A bad Stator... only $200. Of course, add that to the mis-diagnosis from another shop and we're up to $400. Still not enough to justify a new Yamaha F90 -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silveradosheriff Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Hey Lew - not sure if you can wait but LeB typically has a no-tax fathers day sale running at the end of this week. Depending on how much you're looking to spend - might be worth the wait. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Lew, get a second quote from Rockys bud.I,ll get ya the number,if ya want to sell it let me know.I will take it and grab it as a spare bud. Unplug and yer safe my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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